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Polymers
Volume 18
Issue 1
10.3390/polym18010017
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Article

Quantifying Early Electromechanical Integration of Cardiomyocytes Using a Minimalist PCL Nanofiber Platform

by
Vitalii Dzhabrailov
1,2,*,
Elena Turchaninova
1,2,
Daria V. Kononova
2,
Egor Ilin
2,
Mikhail Slotvitsky
1,2,3,*,
Anton Efimov
4,
Igor Agapov
4,
Valeriya Tsvelaya
1,2,3,
Alexander Romanov
1,5 and
Konstantin Agladze
2,3
1
E. Meshalkin National Medical Research Center of the Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation, 630055 Novosibirsk, Russia
2
Moscow Center for Advanced Studies, 123592 Moscow, Russia
3
M.F. Vladimirsky Moscow Regional Clinical Research Institute, 129110 Moscow, Russia
4
Academician V.I. Shumakov National Medical Research Center of Transplantology and Artificial Organs, Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation, 123182 Moscow, Russia
5
Department of Cardiovascular Surgery (FPC and PPV), Novosibirsk State Medical University, 630091 Novosibirsk, Russia
*
Authors to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Polymers 2026, 18(1), 17; https://doi.org/10.3390/polym18010017 (registering DOI)
Submission received: 1 November 2025 / Revised: 25 November 2025 / Accepted: 16 December 2025 / Published: 21 December 2025
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advanced Polymer Materials in Drug Delivery and Tissue Engineering Applications)
Review Reports Versions Notes

Abstract

A critical obstacle in cardiac cell therapy is the unpredictable and poorly understood initial electrophysiological integration of grafted cardiomyocytes into the host tissue, a process that dictates therapeutic success and arrhythmic risk. Current models fail to capture the earliest stages of functional coupling formation. Here, we employed a tailored bioengineering platform, where single cardiomyocytes were stabilized on minimalist electrospun polycaprolactone (PCL) nanofibers, to model the “graft–host” interface and study the dynamics of excitation wave transmission in real-time. Using high-speed optical mapping enhanced by a custom SUPPORT neural network, we achieved the first quantitative insights into the efficiency of nascent intercellular contacts. We determined that within the first 3 h, these initial connections are 39–44 times less effective at conducting excitation than mature contacts within the native monolayer, explaining the observed partial (46%) synchronization of grafted cells. This work provides the first direct measurement of the functional deficit during the initial minutes and hours of graft integration. It establishes that simple, inert polymer fibers can act as a catalytic scaffold to enable this fundamental biological process, offering a powerful strategy to deconstruct and ultimately control the integration of engineered tissues (or cells) for safer cell therapies.
Keywords: cardiac cell therapy; electrophysiological integration; polycaprolactone nanofibers; optical mapping; intercellular coupling; tissue engineering; neural network cardiac cell therapy; electrophysiological integration; polycaprolactone nanofibers; optical mapping; intercellular coupling; tissue engineering; neural network

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MDPI and ACS Style

Dzhabrailov, V.; Turchaninova, E.; Kononova, D.V.; Ilin, E.; Slotvitsky, M.; Efimov, A.; Agapov, I.; Tsvelaya, V.; Romanov, A.; Agladze, K. Quantifying Early Electromechanical Integration of Cardiomyocytes Using a Minimalist PCL Nanofiber Platform. Polymers 2026, 18, 17. https://doi.org/10.3390/polym18010017

AMA Style

Dzhabrailov V, Turchaninova E, Kononova DV, Ilin E, Slotvitsky M, Efimov A, Agapov I, Tsvelaya V, Romanov A, Agladze K. Quantifying Early Electromechanical Integration of Cardiomyocytes Using a Minimalist PCL Nanofiber Platform. Polymers. 2026; 18(1):17. https://doi.org/10.3390/polym18010017

Chicago/Turabian Style

Dzhabrailov, Vitalii, Elena Turchaninova, Daria V. Kononova, Egor Ilin, Mikhail Slotvitsky, Anton Efimov, Igor Agapov, Valeriya Tsvelaya, Alexander Romanov, and Konstantin Agladze. 2026. "Quantifying Early Electromechanical Integration of Cardiomyocytes Using a Minimalist PCL Nanofiber Platform" Polymers 18, no. 1: 17. https://doi.org/10.3390/polym18010017

APA Style

Dzhabrailov, V., Turchaninova, E., Kononova, D. V., Ilin, E., Slotvitsky, M., Efimov, A., Agapov, I., Tsvelaya, V., Romanov, A., & Agladze, K. (2026). Quantifying Early Electromechanical Integration of Cardiomyocytes Using a Minimalist PCL Nanofiber Platform. Polymers, 18(1), 17. https://doi.org/10.3390/polym18010017

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